Young Adult (2011) Review

 

Young Adult
Starring: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Rated: R 

 

After high school is really when I came into my own. It’s amazing to me how much of an impact high school actually had on my life until I looked back on it. It seems kind of unfair when you think about it, but High School is probably the most impactful time of a teenage person’s life. It can make or break the person’s reputation, their worldview, their image.

Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron), was the most popular girl at her high school, she was Prom Queen, and girlfriend of Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) the most popular guy. As an adult, she lives in the big city (Minneapolis), has a small dog, goes to bed with random men, is recently divorced, and the ghost writer for a high school teen book series. One day, she gets the idea to “rescue” Buddy from being hostage in her old small town whose now married and father to a newborn child.

Jason Reitman is quickly becoming one of the best american directors. His last feature “Up in the Air” was one of my favorite movies from 2009. This time he reteams with screenwriter Diablo Cody, his partner for “Juno” in creating another hilarious, dramatic character study. All of Jason Reitman‘s movies seem to be about character at a crossroads in their life. “Juno” was about a teen dealing with pregnancy, “Up in the Air” was a changing job market, and now “Young Adult” is about transitioning from your past to adulthood. The best thing about his characters is no matter how cold hearted they may seem the audience never roots against them.

I’d say out of all his film’s, Charlize Theron‘s is the most mean-spirited, cold, condescending out of all them, but she is an insatiable character that is so charismatic her presence is always enjoyable to see on screen. She mistreats her small dog, she wears slutty clothing, drinks/curses like a sailor, and chugs a gallon of diet coke to help her morning hangover. Theron brings the character to life in a way not many actresses could. It’s easy to play a bitchy girl, but to play one with such likablity and pathos is what makes it one of the best performances of the year. She is the embodiment of that girl everyone knew in High School that  thought her shit didn’t stink. A scene where she watches Buddy’s wife’s band play at a restaurant is equally hilariously awkward as it is heartbreaking and Theron pulls it off flawlessly.

Another great performance this film has to offer is comedian Patton Oswalt as Matt, a character who went to high school with Mavis and was picked on to the point where a group of jocks beat him until his legs broke. Showing a lot of promise as a dramatic actor in “Big Fan” he continues his streak of lovable losers. Matt now lives with his sister, does accounting, with hobbies like brew making and painting action figures, he forms a bond when Mavis returns to town and they both drink together and bitch about the people they went to high school with. Misery loves company. Their relationship together never feels forced or rings a false note. She treats him like crap, he sarcastically makes fun of her plan to win back Buddy. They are two lost souls trapped and held hostage by their pasts in their small town Minnesotan high school, neither are seeking redemption but within each other find probably the most honest connection they’ve had with another person even though they were on opposite ends of the High School totem pole. They probably have more in common then they ever thought, but their relationship arc is probably the most honest and rewarding in the whole film. The always reliable Patrick Wilson also has a memorable turn as Buddy Slade and probably his best role since “Little Children.”

The film is definitely a dark comedy, with some adult jokes care of Theron who is much funnier at being a foul-mouthed bitch than Cameron Diaz’s “Bad Teacher.” Where as her character was divorced, and riding on her good looks to get what she wants, Theron does the same but actually has to own up to the person she was and has become, whereas Diaz’s character continues to be a manipulative bitch. The film is also a great satire of small towns, and how people who grow up there sometimes get trapped in a bubble of suburbia, but are they happier in or out, and are they better people? While it may seem like a comedy about a mean girl returning to her old town, there is a lot of subtext under the surface about what it really means to be an adult after High School. Those who will write this off as a dumb comedy or a drama where everything doesn’t get resolved in a tidy bow at the end, well maybe they should grow up.

RATING: 9/10